A change of heart *UPDATE*

Just last week La Puente Mayor Louie Lujan told me he had no one in mind for this proposed transition manager position he wants to get off the ground.

But I guess he changed his mind.

Lujan made a motion Tuesday night to have the city attorney negotiate terms and scope of services with Frank Tripepi, president and CEO of Willdan Financial Services, for that very position.

If the name Willdan rings a bell, this is probably why:

August 29, 2007
Author/Byline: Jennifer McLain Staff Writer
Section: News
ROSEMEAD — Management of a $12 million bridge project more than halfway completed will be turned over to a new company.

The City Council on Tuesday voted to oust Willdan Associates, its current construction management company that has been with the city for 26 years, and replace it with Del Terra Group.

Del Terra was selected after it and ACS Group were interviewed by the council.
Duties include overseeing the renovation of the Garvey Bridge and future redevelopment projects.

The move will help cut costs and avoid conflict-of-interest concerns, some council members said. But council members Gary Taylor and Margaret Clark said bringing a new construction management firm in the middle of the Garvey Bridge renovation could bring delays.

After Councilman John Solis asked: “And this transition (manager), are we hoping to make him a city manager?”

Storing replied: “Of course.”

To which Lujan replied: That would be up to the City Council.

I should add that the motion to negotiate with Tripepi was approved on a 4-1 vote.

****Another bit of information on Tripepi, apparently, he was once a city manager in Rosemead:

Former Rosemead City Manager Frank Tripepi was also 27 when he took on the job in 1975, according to a 1975 article by this newspaper. At the time, Tripepi was the second youngest city manager in the San Gabriel Valley.